One jail I was in, refused to acknowledge my name of Paul Revere. People
wrote letters to Paul Revere and the jail had them returned, marked,
"NOT HERE, RETURN TO SENDER." Finally, my precious wife wrote a
letter, not to the commanding officer of the jail, but to the desk
clerks. The letter was simple. She knew Paul Revere was in their
jail and so did they. Yet they were leading people to believe
something that was not true and that was a form of lying. She told
them the essence of lying is in deception, not in words. She let
them know their salvation was at risk if they continued in their
lies.
LETTER TO DESK CLERKSRe: Paul Revere, Ambassador of Jesus Christ Grace and Peace to all who love the truth. Apparently your supervisors have told you not to admit that your jail has imprisoned Christ's servant, Paul Revere. Perhaps your supervisors want to hide the fact that they are inflicting suffering upon a man for his allegiance to Jesus Christ. Yet deceiving people about the true whereabouts of Paul Revere only adds to the evil being done. Paul Revere has used no other names for several years. Do you not want others to call you by your name? If you are a woman and get married, do you not want others to call you by your new married name? Paul Revere was given a new name when he "married" Jesus Christ and it is his true and only name. Leading people to believe something that is not true is a form of lying. The essence of lying is in deception, not in words. A lie may be told by silence, by equivocation, by the accent on a syllable, by a glance of the eyes, or by attaching a peculiar significance to a sentence; and all these kinds of lies are worse and baser by many degrees than a lie plainly worded. Do you know that Satan is the father of lies? (John 8:44) Sometimes it is necessary to obey God rather than men by refusing to participate in a deception. You may not win the praise of men, but you will be serving God rather than his enemies. May the Almighty God give you the courage to perform your duties without compromising the Truth. In Service to Our King, Rachel Revere |
That letter was carried by the clerk to the commander of the jail and within a day the commander met me: "Sir, we have received a letter from your wife and she says that we are not addressing you by your true name. I can't say what the courts are going to do, but as far as this jail is concerned, you are Paul Revere and from now on you will receive all your mail." My wife's letter did some major conscience raising with jail personnel and she did it from a Scriptural viewpoint. She did not have to use violence or force, she only used the Word of God.
Personal mail can be a problem. When people are writing to you about what's happening on the outside, it can catch you up in your flesh. I recommend keeping mail to a minimum, lest the yearning to be with loved ones tempts you to compromise.